YANNICK GATUNZI is a Burundian professional Salsa and Kizomba dancer and coach, who took the audience by storm at the night of Bruce Melodies’ 10-year anniversary concert as he danced Kizomba.

"Kizomba" means "festival" in the original language of Angola. It emerged in the 1980s, although traditional Angolan dances had been performed for many years. Today, it has spread throughout Europe, North African countries, Canada and the United States. To highlight its popularity in Portugal. In Spain, Kizomba is being danced on the dance floors.

Gatunzi who has been dancing for 15 years says he was surprised and at the same time honoured to get an invitation to perform at such a big concert and be able to entertain such a big crowd. 

"I have always been passionate about dancing since I was a kid but my parents didn’t allow me to keep up with it because I was still in school. I took different salsa classes at a young age and like 2 years after completing school I learnt kizomba, from there I grew into that field.

"When I moved to Rwanda in 2013, I opened a dance class called El Cheza Factory with my colleagues. We were able to coach different people who loved kizomba but didn’t have coaches or even a place to meet and dance together, we met at hotels and had private and public class.

El Cheza has been closed for the last two years but they are planning on resuming their classes very soon.

How was the feedback from the audience?

The feedback was really good, people loved seeing us perform and they are looking forward to our next performances. We had not been working for almost two years, so people were glad to see us.

What inspired you into become a dancer?

I was inspired and taught by my friend Nobel and I came to love and enjoy these social dances that are currently my only source of income. Kizomba is a stress reliever as well as part of sports that works as therapy to people who dance to it. When I am sad, kizomba helps to bring back happiness and calms me down.

What makes a good kizomba dancer?

You must love dancing because if you don’t it becomes very difficult to become a good kizomba or salsa dancer.

What do you call someone who dances kizomba?

Men who dance Kizomba are called Kizombelos and women are Kizombelas.

What should someone wear for a kizomba dance?

Anything that allows them to be flexible is okay but dresses are mostly comfortable. For shoes, there are high heels made for just dancing.

What big stage have you performed at?

The biggest stage I performed at was at East Africa Got Talent season one when I was representing Rwanda at the competition.

What have you gained from dancing?

To me, dancing salsa, kizomba and compa is one of the things I do as my passion and a source of income. I don’t know how I can say it but dancing has leveled me up to a lot, from all the classes and the fact that it is a social dance, it brought me many friends but I still have a long way to go.